


Spellbound Curiosity

by Lillian_Grace



Series: Clubs, Cafés and gay shit [1]
Category: The School for Good and Evil - Soman Chainani
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, as a treat, but also whipped for Anadil, but not in this one, hester is done with Shit, one het couple
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:48:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23343475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lillian_Grace/pseuds/Lillian_Grace
Summary: Hester took up a job as a barista at the Ever Afters because it was convenient. Because she lived in the boarding house right above it. Because she didn’t want to accidentally bump into anyone she didn’t like, which to be fair was almost everyone.She did not take up the job to have some silly coffee shop romance.OrAnadil, Beatrix, Agatha and Ravan are bartenders who always go to this one cafe to celebrate their survival of the “party nights” and make a bad impression on the new barista.
Relationships: Anadil/Hester (The School for Good and Evil)
Series: Clubs, Cafés and gay shit [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1678882
Comments: 3
Kudos: 24





	1. Just Another Beautiful Sweetheat

Hester’s just finished wiping the tables when the door swings open and four dripping forms stumble through. There’s a loud clump as they proceed to fall over each other and end up in a pile on the floor. The floor Hester just wiped.

Eyes flashing, she turns to the group to lecture them but is cut off when one of them starts to frantically yell at the others.

“RAVAN YOU CLUMSY ASSHOLE GET OFF OF ME” the blonde one shrieks shrilly.

“Oh my god get off,” a dark dripping figure groans, glaring up at the others from the bottom of the heap. Hester blinks at the pile of bodies.

“Raven you better move your fat ass right now or I swear to god,” the blonde one growls out from under the one Hester assumes is Ravan.

Ravan scrambles away from the angry blonde and nearly stumbles into Hester. Muttering darkly to himself as he stalks over to one of the freshly cleaned booths and throws himself onto the bench. Rolling her eyes Hester turns back to the others, two of which have managed to get up while the third is still laying on the ground groaning.

She sighs shaking her head as the girl who is still on the ground wipes her long silvery hair from her face and oh god Hester is reminded just how gay she is. 

The girl is, to put it plainly, stunning. Long feathery white hair, ghostly pale skin and burning red eyes that seem to sink deep into Hester’s very soul. And oh wow how is she so pretty, oh god kill me now, i could die happy. Hester stands a little shell shocked as the girl gets to her feet, shoes squeaking on the tile.

“Um sorry about that,” Hester’s head snaps up to the dark haired on who had previously been on the bottom. “Are you new? I don't think I‘ve seen you here before. I’m Agatha by the way” 

Hester clears her throat, “yes, well we don’t open for another half an hour so..” she trails off as the four of them look at her curiously.

“Oh yeah, usually Reena lets us in early to beat the rush.” the blonde pipes up having gone over to the table Ravan currently occupies. 

Hester cocks her head at the mention of her coworker. Reena was her roommate and the main reason she took the job. She supposes that letting a sad bunch of twenty year olds in early was a very Reena thing to do.

So she just nods faintly and gestures to the table where the other two are sitting. The dark haired one…Agatha beams and goes to join her friends while the really really pretty white haired one just tilts her head curiously at Hester. 

Feeling awkward under her scrutiny she quickly walks over to the counter to retrieve some of the hand held menus though she doubts they’ll need them. 

When she returns the four are all seated at the booth and seem to be adamantly discussing something but almost immediately the conversation dies when she approaches. She doesn’t know what she expected really, she doesn’t know them and they don’t know her. But it stings, just a little.

She smiles tightly at the group and sets down the menus. She turns to leave when a quiet rasp stops her.

“Thank you,” she turns to see who spoke and meets those beautiful blood red eyes. The albino flashes a thin crooked smile and turns back to her menu.

Hester’s mind short circuits for a moment leaving her standing there for a rather embarrassingly long time. 

The blonde sends her a curious look before something flashes behind her eyes and she smirks knowingly. Nudging Agatha she subtlety points at Hester before raising an eyebrow. Agatha just shakes her head and clears her throat. 

Hester jolts and flushes brightly. Turning quickly she makes her way back to the counter.

...

Anadil sneaks a look at the pretty waitress’s retreating back before glaring at her friends.

Beatrix just shrugs and wiggles her eyebrows. 

“Really?” Anadil hisses, “I know you were hoping to see Reena again but that was just rude.” She knows it’s a low blow but right now she’s too interested in the mysterious new girl to feel bad.

Beatrix pouts and leans back against the bench. “I didn’t do anything, she just froze.” 

“If it helps it was right after you smiled at her” Agatha supplies praying they won’t get into it while the waitress is right there. 

Anadil’s pale cheeks go pink as her eyes flicker back to the counter where said waitress seems to be re-organizing something on the shelf and purposely not looking at their table.

She looks back and sees Beatrix and Agatha are wearing twin shit eating grins. Growling lowly she looks back at her menu. 

See Anadil was a creature of habit, she always went to the same bookstore, same stores, ordered the same foods, she naturally had a very specific coffee order that hadn’t changed since she was thirteen. But as she looks back at the counter she pauses and considers asking for a suggestion. Purely for the sake of trying something new. 

At that exact moment the Waitress glances up and meets her eyes. Anadil flushes and turns quickly back to her friends, striking up a conversation with Ravan.

...

Hester blushes and smooths down her apron before collecting a pen and pad. Taking her deep breath she starts over to the small group when the door swings wide open a second time and her boss stumbles in.

Reena, like the others, was absolutely soaked and made a complete mess of the freshly mopped floor. At this point Hester had just given up.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, I woke up late and you were gone and I didn’t check the clock and oh jeez I’m so sorry I left you to open up by yourself,” Reena rambles on unaware of the four curious stares from the booth in the back.

“It’s fine Reena, it wasn’t a problem at all,” Hester flashes her friend a crooked smile that did not go unnoticed by the red eyed girl. Nor did Hester notice her deflate slightly.

“Oh gosh! I’m sorry, I didn’t see you guys!” Reena exclaimes only just noticing their company. Almost immediately the Blonde girl perks up and beams. Hester decides, for everyone’s sake, not to bring it up at the moment.

“Reena! Hi!” And oh wow the blonde has gone from snappy and slightly rude so an awkward flushing mess. “How are you?”

“Hey Beatrix,” her blush does not go unnoticed either, “I’m doing pretty well, other than this morning,” Reena made a face and Beatrix probably laughed more than was really necessary but Reena seemed to like it so who was Hester to judge. 

Hester felt her eyes drift over to the beautiful girl only to find a pair of blood red eyes staring back. Almost immediately she breaks eye contact, which makes Hester feel something, she wasn’t quite sure what, but then flickers back to meet Hester’s gaze.

“Hey Hes? Can you get a towel from the back?” Hester much to her dismay has to break eye contact and duck into the back to get a towel for her shivering manager. 

...

Anadil frowns disappointedly. As lovely a person Reena was, Anadil, in that moment, very much contemplated strangling her. Hes, Anadil thought dreamily, it was probably a nickname but it was more than she could have let herself hope for.

...

Agatha glances over at her friend and shakes her head, turning to talk to Beatrix, she finds that the blonde was already enamored by the arrival of a certain someone at their table. She looks over at Ravan to find he is equally unreachable, off daydreaming about the hottie who had spent most of the previous night hanging around Ravan’s section of the bar. 

Signing loudly, Agatha sinks back into her seat and lets out a loud groan. Peeking up she sees that none of her friends have noticed. Disappointed in them all she scoots back upright and sees the waitress...Hester coming back towing a number of large fluffy towels along with her.

Reena smiles gratefully as Hester hands her one of the giant towels. Hester then passes the rest to the four other, slightly less freezing, people at the table.

She passes one to Anadil and the later goes bright pink and ducks her head quickly.

Agatha wonders not for the first time why she agrees to go out in public with these people.

…

Reena stays over at the little group for a few more minutes before she saunters over to Heater who is putting out the days pastries and sandwiches. Rolling her eyes at her friend she subtly nods towards the albino who seems to be arguing vehemently with her friends over something or other. Hester almost immediately flushes bright pink and turns away.

“You could ask for her number,” Reena whispers even though they’re out of earshot. “It’s not that hard Hes.”

Hester rolls her eyes and lets out a long suffering sigh. “I’m not going to do that Reena,” she gives the brunette a pointed look.

“Charming, but seriously, she’s been staring at you since I came over,” Reena glances behind her as said girl quickly ducks back into the discussion she seems to be having with Beatrix. “I think she is trying to murder me with her eyes.” 

“You’re being dramatic Reena,” Hester too, glances behind her to see Anadil quickly focus on her friends. “I doubt someone like her doesn’t have a boyfriend already.”

“She’s actually very gay” Reena replies hopefully. Hester just raises a brow. “Oh my god no! I saw her at pride for God’s sake Hester.” 

“Just checking,” Hester grins and Reena pretends not to hear the rather embarrassingly loud thump from behind her as the poor girl undoubtedly has fallen out of her chair.

“Get your head out of the gutter you animal. Nicola should be here soon so start cranking up the old machine,” true to her word the bookish college student hurries in through the door not two minutes later.


	2. the pretty kind of loving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> um??? continuation I guess, its been a really long time

So far Hester’s first few weeks on the job have been pretty good. She memorized almost all the drinks, exchanges pleasantries with a number of the regulars and managed not to make an utter fool of herself in front of the absolutely breathtaking girl whose name Hester had learned was Anadil.

The group had been coming to the cafe every Sunday early and Hester had grown accustomed to at least one of them dropping in during the week for a snack or a pick me up. In that time Hester had managed to cultivate a pleasant worker customer relationship with the four whilst a rather bothersome pocket of feelings began to develop for she who shall not be named that only grew after she found out that the two of them shared the same taste in music, appreciation for mischief and general dislike of morning people.

But Hester’s recent weeks could never have prepared her for what Reena liked to call “hurricane Sophie”. She was Agatha's sister and apparently an absolute menace to deal with. Reena claimed that she spent all her time reading fanfics and fairytales and had decided that this coffee shop would be where she would meet her true love. It certainly didn’t help that the café was called “Ever Afters”.

Even so, when every single person in the cafe seemed to stiffen as the door bursts open and a flamboyantly pink figure prances into the little shop, Hester was reasonably worried. Even Agatha sinks down in her seat in dread. 

“AGGIE! YOU’LL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED!” A loud and rather unsettling screech rings through the cafe as the tornado of tulle and glitter bounded over to the little booth and practically flung herself over the table to reach her twin. From where she’s standing at the counter on the other side of the shop, Hester can see the table’s occupants cringe and shuffle away from the pastel menace. 

“Aggie! Oh I think I've found the one!” the blonde clasps her hands over her chest and swoons.

Hester glances over to Nicola who’s been sitting at the counter hunched over her laptop for the past two hours seemingly cramming for one test or another. Nicola catches her eye and just shakes her head defeatedly. 

“This happens about once every two or three weeks,” her voice rises at the end as she glares over at the pink eyesore. Rolling her eyes when the blonde ignores her pointed comments she turns back to Hester. “You'll get used to it.”

Hester glances over at the table again and sees the girl has squeezed herself in between Agatha and Ravan, nearly shoving the poor boy off the bench. Well, the group didn’t look like they were leaving anytime soon so she might as well get them refills.

“Watch the register for me Reena?” she calls out to her friend who’s been in the back for the last ten minutes hiding after a rather badly worded compliment towards a certain blonde. Receiving a holler in return she gathers her notebook and quickly walks over to the five. 

“Brave,” she hears Nicola mutter under her breath as she walks away and Hester feels about ten times less sure about this. 

As she approaches the conversation at the table seems to have become increasingly animated.

“All i’m saying is that i don’t think getting married is such a good idea right now. You just broke up with Rafal, maybe give it a couple of weeks before you jump head first into another relationship,” Agatha seems to be trying to reason her sister out of what looked like a doomed romance. Beatrix seems to be banging her head against the table in defeat.

“Why can’t you just be happy for me, Aggie,” Sophie whines, gesturing wildly and nearly smacks Ravan in the head. 

Hester clears her throat pointedly. Five heads swivel to face her. Well now she really regrets coming over.

“Um hey…” she trails off. Sophie’s eyes are gleaming a very worrisome, very scary kind of glee.

“You!” the blonde exclaimes in such sheer joy that Hester’s pretty sure she’s never been so afraid of in her life, “what is the appropriate wait time after a breakup to pursue new romance?” Hester has never regretted doing anything so much in her entire life.

“Maybe now is not the best time for me to be here,” Hester slowly backs away only for the girl to latch on to her arm. She freezes, she can almost hear Reena gasp from her spot by the counter, well this girl was definitely insane.

“Please,” she whines pitifully and good god hester didn’t think she deserves a raise but now she wasn’t sure that the money and lax hours would be worth it if having to put up with this would be on a semi regular basis.

“Um well, I guess that would depend on the nature and length of the relationship?” She glances at the other occupants of the table desperately but none of them will meet her eye. Traitors. 

“Romantic, nine months” Sophie fires off quickly as if they were nothing. 

“Um well at least a couple of months,” she offers weakly, praying desperately for the heavens to open up and smite her with a lightning bolt or something. Sophie visibly diflates, that was clearly not the answer she was looking for.

“See. I’m not crazy Sophie,” Oh now Agatha decides to chime in. Hester shoots the bartender a withering glare. 

“Oh my gOD aggie,” Sophie bemoans, looking towards the table's other occupants for sympathy only to find that they too, are having none of it. Sighing loudly and obnoxiously she flings herself out of the booth, effectively landing a rather put out Ravan on the floor, and sahays over to the counter where Reena waits in mounting horror.

“Well then,” Hester turns back to the table, “is there anything I can get you to eat or drink?”

…

This was her moment, she could do it. 

Anadil knew for fact that she probably couldn’t, at least not without slipping Ravan the drink after one sip. But the girl was really pretty. But what if she saw Anadil pass it along. But she was basically useless when it came to flirting and this was probably the closest she’d ever get. Fuck it she was going to at least try.

“Alright I’ll bring those over in a few minutes,” Anadil’s eyes snap open.

“But i haven’t placed an order yet,” her voice came out a good deal higher than normal and she resolutely did not glance over at Beatrix who was no doubt grinning like a cheshire. 

“I know your order,” Anadil’s mind short circuits. “You always order the same thing.”

She’s not quite sure how to respond to that.

“And, I have it in good authority that you are very very specific when it comes to your coffee order.” Hester smiles triumphantly. Anadil might just melt into a mushy gay puddle then and there if she didn’t know that her friends were watching adamantly instead of minding their own damn buisness. 

“Oh, thank you,” Anadil watches the waitress walk back to the counter to prepare their orders with a dazed look on her face.

“Well,” Anadil doesn’t even have to turn around to see the smirk on her friends face. “Sophie might be having issues but someone else certainly does not.” 

“Oh yeah for sure,” Agatha’s voice is practically dripping with smug glee. What were the laws against violent murders again? 

Head dropping down on the table, Anadil glares at her friends from beneath her curtain of silver hair. “I’m sure she has to remember lots of regular orders. Remembering that I get the exact same thing every time isn’t a big thing,” Anadil said mostly to try to convince her rapidly beating heart than to stop her friends. 

“Sure Ani, sure,” Beatrix pats her head while her eyes dance with mirth.

“It’s not a big thing my ass,” Ravan suddenly chimes into the conversation. Wonderful, it was always nice to know her love life was interesting enough that even Ravan would jump on the wagon.

As much as she loved the three sometimes they could be a real pain in the arse. 

…

Hester walks back to the counter in hopes that Reena has not been made aware of her recent interaction. Fortunately the poor girl has scurried into the back in order to hide from the ball of tulle who currently occupies the entire front booth by the window. Unfortunately Nicola is watching her with gleeful eyes that shimmer with mirth.   
“Hey Romeo~” her voice sing songs as Hester reaches the counter. 

“Whatever you’re thinking, stop it,”


End file.
